Sifting With Gentle Hands
by Becky O'Calahan
Summary: The Prince of Mirkwood, the Evenstar of Rivendell, and the interactions thereof. Chapter five: a picnic.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I fudged the timeline a bit, just to make the elves a little closer in age. For clarity's sake I've included a list of the elves' ages in human years.

Approximate ages: Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir are three, Arwen is a newborn

"_A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away_." - Arab proverb

Sifting With Gentle Hands

He was there when she was born, along with a hundred other dignitaries and noblemen. But he was special - after all, had any of those tall, shining lords stood with his raven-haired friends as Lord Elrond spread a hand across his wife's stomach, feeling the baby moving, laughing at her discomfited expression? No they had not, not even his father, and so Legolas sat curled in his father's lap and patiently awaited the birth of the little girl he felt he already knew.

Hours later, his father called softly to wake him from sleep. He sat up, bleary-eyed, as Lord Elrond carried a small white bundle into the room, flanked on either side by ecstatic twins who were both talking at him but he was tired and still half-asleep and captivated by the tiny creature so he ignored them.

Lord Elrond gently passed the baby to his father, who smiled so brightly it made Legolas feel all happy and glowing inside. Legolas slowly reached towards the blanket - his father had cautioned him earlier to be extra careful - and moved it just a little bit and then a hand reached out and grabbed his finger and it was the smallest hand Legolas had ever seen, even smaller than his friend Suineth's who was the youngest elf Legolas had met. The head inside the blanket turned and Legolas watched two wrinkled eyes open and look into him and they seemed to say, _I see you, hello, my name is Arwen. _

Legolas laughed and said back, "Hello, Arwen. I am Legolas."

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This will be continued, sort of a series following the (platonic!) relationship of Legolas and Arwen. Please review:) it would just make me so happy.


	2. Chapter 2

They met in spring when their fathers had another conference; she hid behind her mother's skirts and sucked on chubby fingers. He tried to pull away from his father's hand and run to Elladan and Elrohir. His father while would not release him, and Legolas gave up tugging when the King looked down with one raised eyebrow and an amused twist of his lips.

He turned his attention to the little girl who clutched her mother's silk-and-organdie folds with a tiny fist. She was so small, barely up to his chest, with short chubby legs and wildly uncoordinated movements. Legolas wondered if she remembered him because he barely remembered her, recalling only her warm weight in his arms.

Finally his father released his hand and Lady Celebrian smiled down prettily at him and asked if he could watch Arwen for a moment while the adults talked inside. He nodded, suddenly shy under her gaze that was so different than his own dark-eyed mother. She toddled Arwen into his arms. He held her up against him with both hands and she was taller than she looked because her hair tickled his nose.

Lady Celebrian walked away with Legolas' father and Arwen watched her go with wide, sad eyes. "Oh do not be sad, Arwen!" Legolas said urgently. "She will be back soon." He sat with her in the grass and played clapping-games and hiding-games where he would duck behind his hands and she would make distressed noises and when he popped out she would giggle and play with her toes.

Soon his father came back out and picked him up, holding him tightly, and Legolas did not know why, only that his father looked sad and worried. He wanted to ask what the grown-ups had been talking about, but Lady Celebrian was taking Arwen away so instead he hugged his father back and let himself be carried off to dress for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry! I completely forgot to put the ages in for the last chapter. So I'll just put them both here:

Second chapter: Legolas is four, Arwen is one

Third: Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir are five, Arwen is two

"

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Elladan and Elrohir were coming to visit the Greenwood and Legolas was so excited that he could not sleep the night before. His father laughed at his impatient son bouncing around the study, setting papers and quills spiralling to the floor. The King sent him to the Queen, who sighed and picked him up and promised that the emissaries from Imladris would be there soon enough.

The next day brought the two identical elflings, along with a host of others who were tall and strong and gave Legolas gifts of sweets and carved toys when he ran among them. When he caught the two Peredhel they seemed as excited as he and Legolas immediately grabbed their hands and pulled them towards all his secret places in the palace gardens.

Halfway through a game of Corsairs and Captains, right when Legolas the Scourge and Elladan the Dreadful had Captain Elrohir about to surrender, Celebrian walked into their corner of the gardens with Arwen on her hip.

Elladan and Elrohir rolled their eyes, complaints ready on their tongues. Celebrian cut them off with a look and set Arwen down on the lawn. "Your sister wants to be included in your game," she gave the twins a stern look, "and she will be, correct?"

Legolas found himself nodding along with the dissatisfied brothers.

"Good." Celebrian smiled and looked much softer. Her gaze turned to Legolas. "Ah, Prince Legolas, you have grown so much since I last saw you. I daresay you are becoming quite the handful for your royal parents, yes?" Legolas smiled shyly. His mother liked to call him that when he did things like paint his nursery. "Well, I do not pity them for there is but one of you, while I must contend with double the force and twice as much clean-up when my sons decide to misbehave." Rather than look properly admonished at her words, Elladan and Elrohir beamed proudly. Celebrian laughed at them, then kissed them all on the forehead and tousled their hair before walking back indoors.

The three boys simultaneously turned their eyes towards Arwen, who sat happily pulling out grass and sprinkling it in the air.

"She can be…" Elrohir began, then trailed off as no way to include his sister came to light. "Oh, blast it. Mother always makes us play with her when she knows Arwen cannot do anything." Legolas could see how it would be hard, because Arwen still seemed much shorter and tinier than him and would have no chance at keeping up. But when Arwen sensed she was being disparaged and began to sniffle he felt guilty.

Her face crumpled. Elladan immediately rushed over and put his arms around her, promising she could play if only she would not cry. Arwen beamed at him, tears drying on her cheeks and she stood up and walked unsteadily over to the others.

She stuck her tongue out at Elrohir and stared at Legolas, not sure where she had seen him before. He smiled and reintroduced himself. "I am Legolas."

She looked shyly at the ground and mumbled, "My name is Arwen."

Elrohir laughed. "She is shy around new people. Do not worry, when she gets used to you she will go back to her normal self and chatter your ears off. Now, Arwen, you have to be on my team because the sides are unfair. She can be boatswain, I guess."

Later in the evening, when the dinner bells were tolling and four very muddy elf-children marched back indoors to face their parents' wrath, Arwen walked next to Legolas and told him about her dresses and dolls and all the games they would play when he came to Imladris. Elladan looked askance at the sudden change in his sister, while Elrohir just mouthed the words _I told you so _and began voicing ideas for the next day's excursion.

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Thank you so much Nieriel Raina, Clodia, and DipDab500 for your reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

In thie chapter, Legolas is six and Arwen is three.

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He was hurling stones off the bridge when Arwen appeared beside him, examining his face curiously. Legolas ignored her and continued to toss the pebbles as far as he could into the flat, clear water. He was angry at Elladan and Elrohir, who were both late and who had both promised to meet him here with the supplies for a trip beneath one of the great waterfalls of Imladris. The discontent sat heavily in his chest but still did not fill the hole that had grown there. Eventually his handful of rocks ran out and he just sat on the railing of the bridge instead, staring moodily at the ripples he had made.

Arwen clambered up beside him. Legolas briefly wondered how she had escaped her minders and then dismissed the thought because she was, after all, related to the twins who were both experts at vanishing under supervision.

They sat in silence for a second. In the distance a loon called to its mate.

"Father says your mother went away." She said it bluntly, as if she did not understand what it meant.

Legolas watched the water. "She did."

"Where did she go?" Her head was cocked to the side, eyes curious and gentle and young.

"To Mandos' Halls."

"Oh." Arwen was silent again for a moment. "Can you visit her there?"

His father had needed to explain it to him. Legolas had never seen anything die before, lived with elves who counted in centuries rather than years, and he had not known where his immortal mother had gone and why everyone was so hushed and solemn around him. Then his father, his sad, mourning father, had explained how Mandos protected souls so that they might find lasting peace, and that his mother was finding hers now and could not come back.

"No," Legolas said simply.

"Oh," Arwen said again. Then she smiled at him and reached over to take his hand in hers. "Well do not worry, then. We can share mine."

Legolas looked at her earnest expression and smiled, clasping her soft hand tightly in his own as they watched the water settle back into clear glass.

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a review :)


	5. Chapter 5

_This time, Legolas is ten and Arwen is seven._

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Legolas carefully slid towards the group of young maidens sitting on a blanket in the heart of the gardens. He couched in the bushes, his hands cupped gently around his wriggling captive.

When all the unsuspecting victims were leaning in to pick pastries off an ornamental platter, Legolas struck. He tossed his prisoner - his rather large prisoner, by Imladris standards - straight onto the plate, where its eight legs scrambled for hold and a way to escape the light.

As one, the ladies shrieked and launched themselves away from the spider. Or almost as one, anyway. Arwen, the hostess of the little tea-party, watched the bushes where Legolas was hiding with narrow, fiery eyes.

Legolas took a step backwards from her glare, even though he knew she could not see him. A stick snapped, a leaf rustled, and his position was revealed. Her eyes whipped directly to him, and he dove out of the shrubbery and took off running.

"Legolas!" She howled behind him, and promptly snatched up a cream-filled pastry and sprinted after him, prepared to inflict serious damage with it.

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End file.
